Solemn
by NarcolepticBard
Summary: The RED Spy goes back to France to see his aunt, his only relative alive, and tell her about the bad news. This is a sequel to my other story: That Man (highly recommendable to read this one first)


Paris, France. He was back to his homeland, still half asleep due to jet lag. He welcomed the few hours of sleep, since his sleep timetable was heavily distorted after the fight against the robots. Thankfully, they were defeated now, but that didn't fix the void in his heart. His little brother. His beloved little brother was now in a more peaceful place, away from the gunfire and violence. He sat down on a bench in the airport and started to think: how will he tell her about that? She was old and weak and he didn't want to kill her of sadness, but the later she knows, the sadder she will get. He picked up his suitcase and proceeded to look at a direction.

"Madame Marie DeVigny, Rue Victoria 15" he whispered to himself as he headed for the phone cabins and called for a taxi. The wait seemed to never end, which made him get more anxious. The taxi was there. He placed his suitcase in the trunk and sat down on the back seat. "Rue Victoria 15" he told the taxi driver "would you mind if I smoked?" the taxi driver shook his head "I usually don't allow smoking, but you seem quite depressed so I will make an exception". Spy looked at the streets of Paris, slowly embraced by the darkness of the night. As he lighted his cigarette, he remembered all the alleys he and his brother used to sneak in, the places where adults used to give them candy… and the shining Tour Eiffel. He has always been hypnotized by its beauty and magnitude and he always dreamed of visiting it alone with his love. But he didn't have a loved one and neither will have. They have arrived at the destination.

"Rue Victoria 15" he repeated to himself. He rang the bell and asked for Marie DeVigny. "Madame DeVigny doesn't live here anymore" a soft feminine voice told him from behind the door "she lives a few streets from here. Come in, I'll write you her new address". His luggage seemed heavier than before in every step he made. There it was! He knocked the door and a young lady showed up. "Is Marie DeVigny at home?" he asked, she shook her head "she will be here in 20 minutes. Would you like to meet her inside?" he nodded and proceeded to place his coat, hat and luggage in the entrance. "Who are you?" the young lady asked, placing some coffee and pastries on the living room table "François, Marie's nephew. I've come back from the States to tell her something" he sat down and took a small sip of coffee "Merci beaucoup". The young lady introduced herself as Annette and she was taking care of Aunt Marie since her two nephews started working for Mann Co. Spy's face darkened every time Annette told him how much Aunt Marie missed him and Claude, his brother, the BLU Spy. The expression spoke for itself and Annette stopped talking. "Is there something wrong, monsieur?" she asked, but before he could answer, someone knocked on the main door.

Aunt Marie dropped her umbrella when she saw her nephew. She cried tears of joy as she ran to hug him and tell him how much she missed him. "How come have you come back to Paris? Where is Claude?" The Spy held her close, burying his face in her shoulder and trying to make an effort to not to break his voice. "He… _tante_, I have to tell you something" he said, Aunt Marie took a seat "Oui, chéri? Is there something wrong?" François tried to make up the best way to tell her. He suggested to move to the sofa, so he can explain himself better. Marie took a set and he began his story."I think he told you he got a sweetheart… they were so close together… Really in love with eachother…" The old lady's smile grew bigger "But then we had to face a respawn malfunction. I bet he told you about it as well" Spy was biting his own lip, trying to not to sound harsh to her "Is there something wrong, François?" she asked. The man placed two fingers on his eyes, rubbing them and tried to hold back his sadness. "Did his lover die? Where is him?" she insisted.

Spy broke into tears. He was never a man who could cry easily, in fact, he was cold and unemotional. But this time, he was sitting in front of his only relative, who was old and she will face death soon, and about to tell her about the loss of her child, his beloved brother. The few times they had seen eachother, Aunt Marie grew really fond of Claude. She thought that, as a result of an experiment, he could feel rejected or less loved so she dedicated all her time to make him feel he's her child as well. "François?" the lady brought him back to real life and she scooted closer to him to hold him like when he was little and under her care "What's the matter, _petit_?" she kept asking. Spy's blue icy eyes met the aunt's green ones and he tried to speak again. "He's gone... Claude and his mate died during the respawn malfunction... and there's no way to bring them back..."

Marie DeVigny felt a lump in her throat. No, it couldn't be true. His beloved nephew couldn't be dead. She was hoping that everything would be a joke, that Claude would come off his hiding place and they will all laugh and be happy. But it wasn't a joke. Tears started falling down her wrinkly cheeks and she opened her mouth to say something, but words didn't come out. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster to the point she even had trouble to breathe. François let her go and lay her down on the sofa "_Tante_... _tante_...! Please, calm down...! Everything's gonna be alright! I'm here..." he held her hand to his chest and turned to Annette, who was standing by the door all the time "please call an ambulance...! We have to take her to the hospital...!" then he went back to his aunt, kneeling by her side and reassuring her. The lump in her throat grew bigger and the struggle to breathe became even worse.

The ambulance arrived on time and Spy spent the rest of the evening sitting in the waiting room, smoking nonstop and trying not to sob. He felt useless and weak, but that didn't matter anymore. The day the robots were defeated, he left Mann Co and he packed everything up to move back to France. He didn't care for his teammates anymore, they were nobody to him. Not even the Medic, who he had developed a crush on but the German ditched him for Heavy. "To hell with them all" he whispered to himself. A doctor came out from one of the rooms with solemn expression. He explained that they tried their best to save her, but they couldn't. Marie DeVigny passed away of a heart attack. François knew that the bad news could kill her, but he was there. He could have helped her, but he didn't know how to. He knew perfectly that some kind of things can't be told in a soft way. He buried his head in his hands and began to sob. He was the last of the DeVigny family, he had no friends or loved ones. He was alone. It took several hours to calm himself down. The visiting hours were about to finish and he decided it was time to go home. As he went downstairs, he felt a presence by his side. But nobody was there, not even a nurse. He suddenly felt a warm weight on his shoulders and reached a hand to touch it. Nothing was there. He thought that maybe Claude and Aunt Marie were right there to comfort him. Tears streamed down his face again as he sat on the stairs, holding his shoulders and praying for this pain to end.

When he got out of the hospital, Annette was standing there. She was holding Aunt Marie's umbrella and walked to Spy, handing it to him. "It's raining cats and dogs, you should take that" she said as she was about to walk off the hospital without a cover. François held her arm and pulled her under the umbrella. "As a gentleman, I shall not allow such a lovely lady to get soaked wet in the rain" he said. Suddenly he found that he wasn't alone at all. He could ask Annette to stay with him. He could help her find a new job. He could bring her to visit the Tour Eiffel together. He could start a new life.


End file.
